Danish ships become greener

BY JACOB BENTHIEN

One of the research projects at DCMT concerns exploiting the surplus air from the ship’s turbochargers. The air is fed under the hull to create an air cushion which makes propulsion 10% cheaper. The model has been tested in DCMT’s test tank and will be tested at full scale during autumn 2008. Photo: Sisse Jarner

In collaboration with the Danish Maritime Authority, five leading Danish maritime companies have launched an ambitious research and development programme entitled ’Green Ship of the Future’. The aim of the project is to make shipping more environmentally friendly by developing technology and logistics solutions that reduce CO2, sulphur (SOx) and nitrogen (NOx) emissions. The project, which is open to anyone who would like to participate, has initially been launched by five technologically advanced Danish companies together with the Danish Centre for Maritime Technology (DCMT), a researchbased collaboration between the Technical University of Denmark and Force Technology.

The five companies are MAN Diesel, Aalborg Industries, Odense Steel Shipyard, A.P.Møller-Mærsk and FORCE Technology.

“Green Ship of the Future is yet another example of Denmark taking up the challenge in the climate and environment area,” says Danish Minister for Economic and Business Affairs Bendt Bendtsen. “The vision of being Europe’s leading shipping nation also means taking the lead in ensuring that Danish shipping becomes even more environmentally and climate friendly.”

Project manager Thomas Eefsen of the Danish Centre for Maritime Technology (DCMT) with some of the model ships which are used for hull modelling. DCMT coordinates the research in the Green Ship of the Future project. Photo: Sisse Jarn

MORE ENVIRONMENTALLY FRIENDLY
On a global scale, national and international shipping emits around 1,120 million tons of CO2 annually. But despite the gigantic figure, shipping is still a more environmentally friendly form of transportation than by road, rail or air.

“One ton of goods transported by a truck with a 20 ton capacity accounts for about 50 grams of CO2 per kilometre,” says Thomas Eefsen, project manager and research coordinator of DCMT. “By contrast, only 10 grams of CO2 are emitted per ton of transported goods on a container ship, and only about five grams on a bulk carrier or tanker. For aircraft, the figure is ten times higher than for a container ship.”

Jan Fritz Hansen, executive vice president of the Danish Shipowners’ Association, points out that the reason why shipping emits as much CO2 as it does, is because it accounts for 90% of world trade and the transportation of goods.

“With the growth in trade we are witnessing today, I can only see CO2 emissions growing. The point of the Green Ship of the Future project is to do something about it, so that CO2 emissions and pollution do not increase at anything like the same rate as growth in trade,” says Jan Fritz Hansen.

ELECTRICITY FROM EXHAUST GASES
Initially the project will concentrate on making ships’ energy plants more efficient, including further development of existing technologies for reducing emissions. There are also plans to look at efficiency improvements in the propulsion of ships such as optimisation of hull shapes, the motive power system and hull paint. The project will comprise both the operation of ships and the optimisation of transport chains.

GREEN IS GOOD FOR FUEL ECONOMY The cost of bunkering has rocketed in recent years. From 2004 to 2008, bunker prices tripled and today a ton of fuel costs ship owners almost USD 500. The bunker price has become a cost which can really be felt in daily operations. “A project like Green Ship of the Future also offers a financial incentive to shipowners – in addition to the environmental aspect,” says Jan Fritz Hansen of the Danish Shipowners’ Association. “An energy saving of just 1% per year for a 4,000 TEU container ship can save around USD 100,000 at today’s oil prices.”

SILICONE PAINT SAVES FUEL In 2007, the Danish ship paint manufacturer Hempel developed a revolutionary marine paint based on silicone. The paint, which allows ships to glide more easily through the water, while at the same time reducing alga formation, was tested by FORCE Technology. The paint was applied to shipping company Euronav’s supertanker TI ASIA. The 380 metre long vessel, with a deadweight of more than 440,000 tons, recorded fuel savings of around 8% compared to TI ASIA’s sister ship TI EUROPE, which had been painted with a tinbased marine paint four years earlier.

 “There is significant potential in this area,” says Thomas Eefsen. “Maersk Line, which is among the first companies in the project, has already installed exhaust gas heat recovery plants in its latest series of megacontainer ships. These plants convert waste heat from exhaust gases into electricity. The power produced by this electricity corresponds to almost 10% of the main engine’s thrust.”

MAN Diesel, one the world’s leading diesel engine manufacturers, is participating in several subprojects including research into reducing NOx emissions, as well as systems that can optimise fuel consumption according to how a ship is operated.

“We already know that CO2 emissions from a ship are reduced by more than 25% if the speed is reduced from 24 knots to 20 knots,” says Thomas Eefsen. “It also reduces fuel consumption significantly. There are disadvantages in longer transportation times, increased crew costs, stock costs and various other financial negatives. But it is clearly an area in which more research and analysis is needed.”

The overall aim of Project Green Ship of the Future is to reduce CO2 emissions by 30%, and NOx and SOx emissions by 90%.

DENMARK BEHIND IMO AGREEMENT ON CLIMATE REGULATION
It was as a result of major Danish efforts that the international shipping organisation IMO earlier this year adopted a number of fundamental principles for global climate regulation of international shipping. The objective is to gain an agreement that binds all flag states and thus prevents distortion of competition. The agreement will help secure an effective reduction in harmful emissions.

“From a climate perspective, reducing emissions in all areas is a necessity,” says the chairman of the Danish Shipowners’ Association Torben Janholt of shipping company J. Lauritzen A/S. “But it is equally necessary for shipping that the agreement becomes global and thus fair and beneficial for equal competition. So we are very happy with the preliminary agreement in IMO.”

In Denmark, the shipowners’ organisation is concerned that the industry will be subject to binding rules for CO2 emissions based on the Kyoto Protocol.

“Those countries, including Denmark, which are bound by the Kyoto Protocol only account for 25% of international shipping,” says Janholt. “It can result in substantial flagging out of ships to countries that are not bound by Kyoto. Nothing is thus gained from a climate perspective, and competition will be completely distorted. An agreement must include everyone, and only IMO can guarantee that.”

The Danish Shipowners’ Association reckons that a final agreement, which will be binding for the entire international shipping industry, will be ready in its essentials during 2008, and negotiations will hopefully be completed by the end of 2009.